Asymmetry

Library Street Collective | Detroit, Michigan

Asymmetry is a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Robert Moreland and Jacqueline Surdell. Asymmetry creates a brilliant synergy between two new bodies of work that appear radically different but relate in universally complementary ways.

Robert Moreland lives and works in Los Angeles, California, meticulously developing his artwork. Continuing in his signature style, Moreland’s new body of work mirrors his attempts toward simplicity in his life. His nonrepresentational, boldly depicted sculptures highlight the relationship between shape, color, and form, as he ignores a necessity for speculative interpretation. He hand stretches each canvas over wood, attaching them with leather hinges and metal tacks, and adds layer upon layer of paint. The visual simplicity of Moreland’s work masks the tedious nature of creation, which for him, includes multiple days of continuous focus before completion. This labor is hidden within his artwork, providing an industrial feel, and adding a level of mystery within the multiple-paneled, two-toned forms.

Similarly, Chicago-native Jacqueline Surdell’s textile sculptures are incredibly labor-intensive. While also utilizing foundational elements of repetition, color, and shape, she’s questioning what can be created with a focus on those formal elements. Surdell’s work is situated within a foundation of her interest in sacred spaces. The similarity between the architecture of bathhouses and the gallery influences Surdell’s thoughts relating to the connection of grids, designed into physical spaces and the creation of cloth, through the process of crossing threads. Although abandoning traditional linear networks, Surdell highlights established textile creation techniques; the complexity of the work folding in on itself through her manipulation. Taken in as a whole, each work becomes an amalgamation of color and line, connecting and disconnecting through a calming undulation.

Asymmetry ultimately provides a conversation between the simplicity of Moreland’s works and the complexity of Surdell’s works. The color and dimensionality of the pieces work in contrast to the stark white walls, adding physical depth to the planar space, and speaking to one another through conceptually nuanced language. While not clearly displayed in the exhibition, there is a continuity of manual labor that unites the works through processes. The dichotomy of the visual aspects is opposed by the formulaic use of color and the physical exertion needed to produce the works.